Going forward, he plans to continue his charitable work and consulting.

“My focus right now is my family and I am going to take as much time as it takes to care for them,” Crossman, 48, said in a prepared statement. “It’s likely that I will be back working at some point in the future, but I don’t have a timetable right now.”

Crossman & Co. was founded in 1990. Crossman was president of the firm but became CEO in recent years when his older brother Scott Crossman decided to semi-retire to raise cattle in Ocala, while working at the office just three days a week. As a result, former COO Zielinski was named president.

Now, brother and company founder Scott Crossman will return to the role of CEO. John Zielinski will remain as president and head of operations for Crossman & Co.

Crossman & Co. is well known in Central Florida and the Southeastern U.S. where it represents landlords of more than 400 shopping centers — many of which are anchored by Publix supermarkets — in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and the Carolinas. In total, the shopping centers add up to about 28 million square feet.

In 2017, John Crossman published his first book, “Career Killers, Career Builders,” based on his most requested speech: “The Top 5 Ways to Get Fired and The Top 5 Ways to Keep From Being Fired.” The book earned several awards, including a Gold Winner Non-Fiction Book Award honor and first place in the new author/nonfiction category of the Royal Dragonfly Book Award.

The subject of his speech and book stemmed from the cause he’s most passionate about: Diversity in the real estate industry and access to higher education, especially at places like Valencia College and historically black colleges and universities, like Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University. In fact, his firm endowed five scholarships.

His work resulted in him receiving the Humanitarian of the Year Award at the African Chamber of Commerce Central Florida’s 2018 Eagle Awards for his contributions and extraordinary service toward the improvement of the region’s African American community. He also earned the Cornerstone Award for Personal Empowerment from the Central Florida Urban League in recognition of his work in the real estate industry with historically black colleges and universities.

In 2018, Crossman was named one of Orlando Business Journal’s CEOs of the Year.